WEAPONS of murder will form a small "black museum" at one of the region's leading visitor attractions.

Two axes and a meat cleaver are among a big collection of policing artefacts from Durham Police that will have a new home at Beamish Museum.

The open air museum, which preserves the region's early 20th Century industrial heritage, will keep the items in its collection of historic items from all walks of life.

It says the force's gift of thousands of items from the first half of the century will prove a valuable resource to researchers looking into the policing of yesteryear.

The murder weapons were used in three unrelated domestic killings.

One of the axes was used by a 17-year-old to murder his abusive, alcoholic father as he slept in the summer of 1939, shortly before the start of the Second World War.

The teenager was found guilty of manslaughter at Durham Assizes and ordered to be detained at His Majesty's pleasure.

The meat cleaver was used the following year in the killing of a 44-year-old housewife from Toronto, near Bishop Auckland.

The woman was found dead in her kitchen and her husband, who was three years younger than her, was arrested after bloodstains were found on his clothes. He had tried to hide the cleaver.

The man was convicted of murder and was hanged.

The second axe was used by a 20-year-old man to kill his father, a colliery stonemason, at Seaham, in 1943.

The victim was found dead in his armchair, having suffered severe head injuries. The previous night he had had a big argument with his family.

The son was jailed for five years after being convicted of manslaughter.

The force believes that by handing over the material it will be protected and be more accessible to researchers.

Superintendent Graham Rankin, head of the force's corporate development department, said: "We do not have the resources to justify the creation of a permanent black museum of our own but we do not want to lose our heritage. By handing it over, we are making sure it will be properly preserved by professional archivists."

Other items headed for Beamish include uniforms, ceremonial swords, truncheons, handcuffs, tunic buttons and a century-old straw helmet that was designed to be worn during hot summer weather.

A fragile ledger containing the details of hundreds of murders committed in the county between 1900 and 1950 will be stored in Durham County Council's records office.

Beamish's senior keeper Rosemary Allan said: "The museum already has a large collection of artefacts from the region's policing past. This will complement what we already have. It sounds as though it will be quite interesting.

"It will provide a wonderful resource for researchers wanting to find out more about the police forces in the region.''

The original Scotland Yard Black Museum

Scotland Yard opened its black museum in 1875. Working in the small "property store" - as it was originally known - was considered part of a fledgling detective's training before he could join the CID.

The name "black museum" was coined in 1877 following an article in The Observer.

Scotland Yard boasts some of the most fascinating crime exhibits in the world, including the original Jack the Ripper letters, and personal items belonging to Dr Crippen, acid bath murderer John George Haigh, Dennis Nilsen and John Christie.

The museum is now used as a lecture theatre for police in subjects of criminology, such as forensic science, pathology, law and investigative techniques.

The list of famous people who have visited the museum includes Gilbert & Sullivan, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, The Prince of Wales (later to be Edward VII), Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Jerome K Jerome, E W Hornung and members of the Royal Family.